1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling air circulating device in a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a cooling air circulating device in a refrigerator, which is capable of impartially supplying cooling air to a chilling chamber and uniformly maintaining the spread of temperature of the chilling chamber.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, a refrigerator is divided into a freezing chamber for keeping an ice making container and frozen food and a chilling chamber for keeping cold food. The refrigerator includes a freezing cycle for supplying cooling air to the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber.
A common type refrigerator, where the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber are arranged in a vertical direction, and a side-by-side type refrigerator having a large capacity, where the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber are arranged in a horizontal direction, are mainly used.
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a cooling air supplying device of a side-by-side type refrigerator according to a conventional technology. FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view showing the cooling air supplying device of the side-by-side type refrigerator according to the conventional technology.
A conventional refrigerator includes a main frame 104, in which a pair of doors 102 hi-directionally opened and closed are installed in the front portion and a receipt space is included, a freezing chamber 106 arranged on either the left side or the right side of the main frame 104, the freezing chamber 106 for keeping frozen food, a chilling chamber 108 separated from the chilling chamber 106 by a mullion wall 110 and arranged on the other side of the main frame 104, the chilling chamber 108 keeping cold food, a blast fan 115 installed in the upper portion of the freezing chamber 106, the blast fan 115 for forcibly blowing air frozen while passing through the evaporator 112 of the freezing cycle to the freezing chamber 106, and a chilling chamber cooling air circulating device for supplying the cooling air blown by the blast fan 115 to the chilling chamber 108.
A plurality of shelves 114 are installed to be separated from each other by a predetermined distance in the freezing chamber 106 and the chilling chamber. 108 so that food can be kept by layers. Vegetable boxes 116 and 117 for keeping vegetables are bedded in the lower portion of the shelves 114.
The chilling chamber cooling air circulating device includes a cooling air supply path 118 formed in the upper portion of the mullion wall 110 so as to suck up the cooling air blown from the blast fan 115 installed in the freezing chamber 106 into the chilling chamber 108, a cooling air discharge duct 120 installed in the upper portion of the chilling chamber 108 and connected to the cooling air supply path 118, the cooling air discharge duct 120 for discharging the cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply path 118 to the chilling chamber 108, and a cooling air suction path 122 formed in the lower portion of the mullion wall 110, the cooling air suction path 122 for sucking up the cooling air that completed a cooling operation while circulating in the chilling chamber 108 into the freezing cycle.
The cooling air discharge duct 120 is horizontally arranged in the upper portion of the chilling chamber 108. One side of the cooling air discharge duct 120 connected to the cooling air supply path 118. A plurality of cooling air discharge openings 124 for discharging the cooling air to the chilling chamber 108 are formed in the front portion.
As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of vegetable boxes 116 and 117 can be bedded in the lower portion of the chilling chamber by layers. The cooling air suction path 122 is formed in a predetermined position of the mullion wall 110 separated from the bottom of the chilling chamber by a predetermined distance.
That is, the cooling air suction path 122 is formed in one surface of the vegetable box 116 bedded in the upper portion among the vegetable boxes 116 and 117 bedded by layers. A deodorant 140 for removing the bad smell of the cooling air sucked up from the chilling chamber into the freezing cycle is installed in the cooling air suction path 122.
According to the conventional side-by-side type refrigerator having the above structure, when the freezing cycle is driven and a blast fan 115 is rotated, the air frozen while passing through the evaporator 112 is discharged into the freezing chamber 106 by the blast pressure of the blast fan 115 and is supplied to the chilling chamber through the cooling air supply path 118.
The cooling air supplied to the cooling air supply path 118 is sucked up into the cooling air discharge duct 120 and is discharged into the chilling chamber 108 through the cooling air discharge openings 124 formed in the cooling air discharge duct 120. The cooling air discharged into the chilling chamber 108 cools the cold food kept in the chilling chamber 108 while circulating in the chilling chamber 108. The cooling air that completed the cooling operation is sucked up into a cooling cycle through the cooling air suction path 122 formed in the lower portion of the mullion wall 110 and is cooled again while passing through the evaporator 112.
However, according to the chilling chamber cooling air circulating device of the above conventional refrigerator, since the path, through which the cooling air that completed the cooling operation while circulating in the chilling chamber is sucked up into the freezing cycle, is formed in the lower portion of the mullion wall, it takes longer to suck up the cooling air that completed the cooling operation. Accordingly, the cooling air whose temperature has risen above a predetermined temperature stays longer in the chilling chamber. Therefore, the cooling air is not impartially distributed to the chilling chamber. As a result, the chilling chamber is partially cooled. Accordingly, the spread of temperature of the chilling chamber is not uniform.
In particular, since only one cooling suction path exists, the cooling air cannot smoothly circulate in the chilling chamber and the temperature of the cooling air discharged from the upper portion of the chilling chamber rises toward the lower portion of the chilling chamber. Accordingly, the food stored in the upper portion of the chilling chamber is excessively cooled and the food stored in the lower portion of the chilling chamber is weakly cooled.
Also, the cooling air suction path, through which the cooling air that circulated in the chilling chamber is sucked up, is formed in the lower portion of the mullion wall so as to be separated from the bottom of the chilling chamber by a predetermined distance, the cooling air does not reach the vegetable box bedded in the lower portion of the chilling chamber. Accordingly, the cooling of the vegetable box deteriorates.
Also, the deodorization effect of the deodorant installed on the cooling air suction path increases in proportion to the amount of air that passes through the cooling air suction path. Since the size of the cooling air suction path is small, the size of the deodorant becomes small. Therefore, the deodorization effect of the deodorant deteriorates.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator, which is capable of impartially cooling an entire chilling chamber and making the spread of temperature of the chilling chamber uniform by letting cooling air sucked up into the respective cells divided by the shelves of the chilling chamber.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator, which is capable of rapidly cooling food and reducing time for cooling the food by letting the cooling air sucked up into the respective cells of the chilling chamber, to thus minimize time, for which the cooling air whose temperature has risen above a predetermined temperature stays in the chilling chamber.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air circulating device of a chilling chamber, which is capable of smoothly cooling a vegetable box by circulating the cooling air in the lower portion of the chilling chamber, where the vegetable box is bedded.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator, which is capable of increasing the deodorization effect of a deodorant by increasing the area of the deodorant for removing the bad smell of the chilling chamber.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator, comprising a cooling air supply path formed on one side of a mullion wall for separating a freezing chamber from a chilling chamber, the cooling air supply path for supplying cooling air to the chilling chamber, a discharge duct connected to the cooling air supply path, the discharge duct for discharging the cooling air to the chilling chamber, and a cooling air suction duct formed on one surface or both surfaces of the chilling chamber, the cooling air suction duct for sucking up the cooling air that completed a cooling operation while circulating in the chilling chamber.
A cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a cooling air supply path formed in the upper portion of a mullion wall for separating a freezing chamber from a chilling chamber, the cooling air supply path for supplying cooling air to the chilling chamber, an upper discharge duct connected to the cooling air supply path and installed in the upper portion of the chilling chamber, the upper discharge duct for discharging the cooling air from the upper side of the chilling chamber, a side surface discharge duct connected to the upper discharge duct and vertically installed on the left side of the chilling chamber, the side surface discharge duct for discharging the cooling air into the respective cells divided by shelves, and a cooling air suction duct vertically installed on the right surface of the chilling chamber, the cooling air suction duct for sucking up the cooling air into the respective cells divided by the shelves.
A cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a cooling air supply path formed in the upper portion of a mullion wall for separating a freezing chamber from a chilling chamber, the cooling air supply path for supplying cooling air to the chilling chamber, an upper discharge duct connected to the cooling air supply path and installed in the upper portion of the chilling chamber, the upper discharge duct for discharging the cooling air from the upper portion of the chilling chamber, a side surface discharge duct connected to the upper discharge duct and vertically installed on the right side of the chilling chamber, the side surface discharge duct for discharging the cooling air into the respective cells divided by shelves, and a cooling air suction duct vertically installed on the left surface of the chilling chamber, the cooling air suction duct for sucking up the cooling air into the respective cells divided by the shelves.
A cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a cooling air supply path formed in the upper portion of a mullion wall for separating a freezing chamber from a chilling chamber, the cooling air supply path for supplying cooling air to the chilling chamber, an upper discharge duct connected to the cooling air supply path and installed in the upper portion of the chilling chamber, the upper discharge duct for discharging the cooling air from the upper portion of the chilling chamber, and cooling air suction ducts connected to the upper discharge duct and vertically installed on the left and right surfaces of the chilling chamber, the cooling air suction ducts for sucking up the cooling air into the respective cells divided by shelves.
The cooling air suction duct is vertically formed on the side surface of the chilling chamber and a plurality of cooling air suction openings are formed in the cooling air suction duct to be separated from each other by a predetermined distance so that the cooling air can be sucked up into the respective cells divided by the shelves.
A cooling air movement path for moving the cooling air sucked up into the cooling air suction openings to the cooling air guide path is connected in the lower portion of the cooling air suction duct.
A cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a cooling air supply path formed in the upper portion of a mullion wall so as to supply cooling air blown from a blast fan to a chilling chamber, a discharge duct for discharging the cooling air supplied from the cooling air supply path into the chilling chamber, a cooling air suction unit installed on the bottom of the chilling chamber, the cooling air suction unit for sucking up the cooling air discharged from the discharge duct via vegetable boxes, and a cooling air guide path for guiding the cooling air sucked up into the cooling air suction means to a freezing cycle.
The cooling air suction unit is installed on the bottom of the chilling chamber and is formed of a flat plate type cooling air suction duct, around which a plurality of cooling air suction openings for sucking up the cooling air are formed.
A cooling air movement duct connected to the cooling air guide path, the cooling air movement duct for moving the cooling air sucked up into the cooling air suction duct to the cooling air guide path is formed in the upper portion of the cooling air suction duct.
The cooling air suction duct is formed of a box that can be opened and closed and a deodorant for removing the bad smell of the cooling air is loaded in the cooling air suction duct.
The deodorant is formed in a predetermined flat plate type so that the deodorant can be settled in the cooling air suction duct and a plurality of through holes, through which the cooling air sucked up into the cooling air suction duct passes and is deodorized, are formed in the deodorant.
A cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a cooling air supply path formed in the upper portion of a mullion wall for separating a freezing chamber from a chilling chamber, the cooling air supply path for supplying cooling air to the chilling chamber, a cooling air discharge duct connected to the cooling supply path, the cooling air discharge duct for discharging the cooling air into the chilling chamber, a cooling air suction path for sucking up the cooling air that completed a cooling operation while circulating the chilling chamber, and a suction unit installed on the cooling air suction path, the suction unit for providing a suction pressure so that the cooling air can be smoothly sucked up.
The suction unit is formed of a suction fan for providing the suction pressure when the cooling air that completed the cooling operation while circulating in the chilling chamber is sucked up into the cooling air suction path.
A cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a cooling air supply path formed in the upper portion of a mullion wall for separating a freezing chamber from a chilling chamber, the cooling air supply path for supplying cooling air to the chilling chamber, a cooling air discharge duct connected to the cooling air supply path, the cooling air discharge duct for discharging the cooling air into the chilling chamber, a cooling air suction path for sucking up the cooling air that completed a cooling operation while circulating in the chilling chamber, and a cooling air guide unit formed on the cooling air suction path, the cooling air guide unit for guiding the flow of the cooling air so that the cooling air can be sucked up into the cooling air suction path via vegetable boxes.
The cooling air guide unit is formed of a cooling air guide duct extended from the front portion of the cooling air suction path, the cooling air guide duct for guiding the direction, in which the cooling air is sucked up, so that the cooling air can circulate around the vegetable boxes.
The cooling air guide duct comprises a first suction opening formed between the vegetable boxes so that the cooling air circulating around the vegetable box positioned in the upper portion is sucked up and a second suction opening formed in a position close to the bottom of the chilling chamber so that the cooling air circulating around the vegetable box positioned in the lower most portion of the chilling chamber is sucked up.
A cooling air circulating device of a refrigerator according to the present invention comprises a cooling air supply path formed in the upper portion of a mullion wall for separating a freezing chamber from a chilling chamber, the cooling air supply path for supplying cooling air to the chilling chamber, a cooling air discharge duct connected to the cooling air supply path, the cooling air discharge duct for discharging the cooling air into the chilling chamber, a cooling air suction path for sucking up the cooling air that completed a cooling operation while circulating in the chilling chamber, a cooling air suction duct formed in the front portion of the cooling air suction path, the cooling air suction duct for guiding the flow of the cooling air so that the cooling air can be sucked up into the cooling air suction path via vegetable boxes, and a suction fan loaded in the cooling air suction path, the suction fan for providing suction pressure to the sucked cooling air.